Friday, July 22, 2011

So, I popped in the DVD and then what happened was...

Some of you may have noticed a little area to the right that tells you what movies I have enjoyed recently. They are not limited to new releases.

I have a hard time tracking down new releases. I know that there are ways to watch on the Internet but more often then not I find that the quality of the movies and speed of the connection are not as 'spot on' as I would like. Therefore, I am basically limited to watching whatever I can get my hands on. This usually means Classics, 80's Action, Oscar winners that I've never seen, Hitchcock, cartoons with cars or some sort of talking animals and Chinese movies..

Now with this approach, I am actually quite surprised that I have not enjoyed that many movies lately. I saw one called I am Love staring Tilda Swinton. There are parts that I loved about this movie but there were more parts that I did not like at all, including the parts where they show too many people parts;)

I watched a Chinese movie called Yi Yi. It was really good, but not "3 hours long but it's so good so I'm going to keep watching" good. Actually, at the point that I gave up I started to fast forward thinking that I was near the end. Well, the fast forwarding took a really long time and I think I gave up on that and just went to scene selection and found the last one.

Then we have director Kar Wai Wong. I watched In the Mood for Love and Chung King Express and loved both of them. To my delight I found a few other of his movies. I soon found that I was not a fan of all of his work. The look of his movies is very interesting, but the topics* seem too drab and empty to maintain my attention for the duration of the film. Needless to say, after crawling through My Blueberry Nights I have left both Ashes of Time and 2046 unopened on my shelf for quite sometime now.

*Something about a wandering woman or man who gets lost in the confusion that is life and the big city.

Brothers was okay. I like the story. I had a hard time believing that Tobey, Natalie and the gang were actually adults with real families and problems and stuff. Maybe Natalie can gain 5 or 30 pounds for her next "mother of an 8 year old" role. She looks like she's heading into 10th grade. I will say that the movie was interesting and that Tobey even took it to a slightly higher level in this one, despite the fact that he still looks so cute and teenagery.

I've seen True Grit a few times now. I think that most people have seen that one. I don't know anyone that didn't like it.

That's about as new as it gets. I look forward to seeing Tree Of Life within the next 3 or 4 years. I heard that Super 8 is entertaining.

This week we had a good time with Scott Pilgrim verses the World. Have you seen that one? I had pretty low hopes for it. Not MacGruber low, but low enough as not to be expecting too much. I found it to be entertaining, funny and very creative. I would recommend that people of a reasonable age watch it. Or maybe you're all over your Micheal Cera phase. He is timid and awkward and such, just like all of his other roles, but somehow it still works for me.

That is about it when it comes to movie watching. Lack of good movies has given me more time to tweak my fantasy baseball team, write, and read on my Kindle. As always, I also anticipate the upcoming NHL season with great... anticipation. Only 2 and a half months away!

This is pretty much the extent of my exposure to a fabricated western culture. I get home sick quite a bit, but these kinds of internet hobbies help take the edge off. I also eat a burger at Bill's Place once in a while. Also, I hear that The Greenhouse has 'pour over method' coffee now.

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Regarding my movies, today I had a little meeting with a prospective actor for a short film I want to make next month. It looks like it will work out. She is an 11 year old girl that I need to look like an 8 year old. When I met her I thought that she was 9, so that's good enough for me. I have a few other parts to cast and I need to confirm a friend's apartment for use as a location. It's fun being back in the pre-production phase of things. I have faith that it's going to work out. In any event, it will be fun and educational to at least give it a try.